Fire near Everglades shuts down major highway near Miami

The Associated Press

Published Monday, July 12, 2004

MIAMI -- A wildfire on the edge of the Everglades burned hundreds of acres of dry grass and trees Sunday, with smoky skies forcing the closure of about 10 miles of a major highway in western Miami-Dade County.

Footage from television news helicopters showed skies with limited visibility over Florida's Turnpike, which was closed from the Dolphin Expressway to Okeechobee Road about 15 miles west of downtown Miami. Flames almost reached the roadway at one point, sending billowing clouds of smoke hundreds of feet into the air.

The highway reopened Sunday evening, several hours after it was shut down.

No homes were threatened by the fire and no injuries were reported, said Bob Rehr, a spokesman with the state Division of Forestry. But people with breathing problems should stay indoors with air conditioning on, he said.

As of Sunday afternoon, the fires had burned 7,200 acres. It was 50 percent contained as of late Saturday, but firefighters have not had a chance to recalculate that figure Sunday, Rehr said.